Rajon Rondo signing with the Chicago Bulls this summer is curious for a number of reasons. The most recent of these involves Rondo showing enthusiasm and initiative with his new team, after cold and alienated stays with the Dallas Mavericks and Sacramento Kings.
The former Boston Celtics point guard and NBA champion has been practicing with the Summer League iteration of his Bulls – topless!
News of Rondo’s participation with the Bulls’ Las Vegas amateur squad comes from a team-sanctioned report, so of course everything we know about it is drenched in good public relations. It is not typical for Rondo or anyone of his tenure and stature to stoop down to the hoi polloi try-hards of Summer League, though, and as such his doing so could be a sign of a more focused and motivated Rondo for the 2016-17 Bulls.
This is pretty much the kind of speculation we have at this juncture of the NBA calendar. Summer League is a proving ground for fringe professionals, and little can be learned the about the actual season to come. Rondo, Dwyane Wade, and the Bulls face long odds with their lack of shooting in an increasingly shooting-centric league, but at least it looks like there may be more drive in the locker room than last season, when coach Fred Hoiberg’s first season sputtered through personality issues the rookie leader couldn’t manage.
